Listen
by curlyramennoodles
Summary: A dateless Saturday reunion is waiting for the hard-headed Kagome unless she can snag the one man who just doesn't seem even close to what she'd hoped for.


A/N: This is my very first Inuyasha fanfic! I don't mind harsh criticism, but please keep the language mild. :D I REAALLY, REAALLY appreciate ANY support that I might get for this story. I guess, enjoy? :3

**_Chapter 1_**

"Come on, really?"

"Yes, really."

"Can't I have just one—"

"Do you not understand the meaning of 'no'?"

"I think you well know what my answer is."

"Argh—I—you—just go away and leave me alone!" A colorful assortment of shoes flew through the air and clanged noisily against the metal door as a young man ran for dear life. A ways away from the door stood a flustered, red-faced college student who, at the moment, could have easily been mistaken for a murderer. "Don't you dare come back!" she huffed, breathlessly collapsing onto a hardly comfortable fold-up chair. A low chuckle from the other side of the half-heartedly closed door led to another loud bang and the scuttling of a pair of underdressed feet. "Stupid jerk."

"You couldn't possibly be referring to me, could you, Kagome?" With all the gracefulness of a rock, a man a little over twenty-one hobbled over to lean against the scribbled-on walls. He let his dark hair fall messily out of his long ponytail, emphasizing teasing violet eyes. "Another failed blind date, I assume?" That earned him a glare and a kick in the shin. "I could promise you a much better Saturday. What do you say—want to give it a try?" He playfully traced the pointed chin of an increasingly furious Kagome.

"Since you have nothing better to do on a Saturday night than to terrorize innocent girls, right?" Kagome snapped, slapping his hand away.

"Is that a 'yes'?" Inuyasha's violet orbs brightened considerably at what seemed to be a possibility. A sloppily aimed kick that barely touched his legs wasn't quite enough to dampen his lifted spirits. "So it's a 'definitely' then?" he asked, dodging a backhand slap at his face. He clearly enjoyed adding fuel to the fire.

Through clenched teeth, the raven-haired girl growled, "Unless you'd like to be hit by my various brands of make-up products, I suggest you make like a tree." After blowing a final teasing kiss to Kagome, Inuyasha made a mad dash for the door as a dangerous-looking red stiletto whizzed by his ear.

Before gently shutting the door behind him, Inuyasha said, winking, "You're cuter when you're mad." Pleased by his night's work, he walked off to his apartment with a very smug grin plastered across his fair face. He'd have her under his belt sooner or later, he thought, fishing out a single rusted silver key to open his own metal gate. It swung open, hinges protesting loudly in doing so. He frowned at the unattractive sound. He made a mental note to fix that as soon as possible, and his grouchy neighbor's too. Somebody had to keep the place up and running when the landlady was away. Speaking of which, when was she coming back? Inuyasha's gaze flickered lazily towards his calendar, the sole adornment on his bare white walls.

A neat round circle enclosed a number. It was enough to wipe the smirk clean off his face. Clapping a hand to his forehead, Inuyasha muttered something unintelligible while shaking his head. Damn woman always did what she wanted, whenever she wanted. He could only hope that she decided her "getaway" wasn't as fun as she liked and came back earlier than planned. Two weeks was a long time.

"And she expects me to pay rent for this dingy place," he said in disgust, rolling up the sleeves of his red sweatshirt to prepare dinner. Grumbling to himself, he diced several carrots swiftly, all the while with fried rice for dinner in mind. A bowl of soup would be nice too. There should be some leftover rice in the fridge…Inuyasha strode over quickly to withdraw the cold rice. The oil was heating up and he couldn't leave it unattended for too long. Three brief raps from the door said otherwise.

"Argh—who'd be coming over to visit at eleven at night?" he groaned, checking the flame, and rushing over to tell whoever it was at the door to go away. "What do you want—" he began, irritated. Upon seeing the prominent nose and pouting pink lips of his next-door neighbor, the corners of his mouth turned slightly upward. "Come looking for me?" Crossing her slender arms over her chest, Kagome sighed impatiently, though without her usual agitation. "Hey, it was you who knocked on my door, so don't go all huffy and puffy on me!"

Her sandaled feet shuffling, she said, barely audible, "I need to ask you for—um—a favor." Inuyasha raised an eyebrow in interest. Her stormy eyes flittered back and forth between the tiled floor to the questioning violet ones in front of her. "I'm going to a high school reunion next Saturday. And I…" she trailed off. What on earth was she saying?

"You're going to a high school reunion. Go on?" Kagome cleared her throat nervously, hands fidgeting with the ends of her waist-length hair. Did she put on make-up before she came over? Her cheeks were several shades of red darker than they had been twenty minutes ago, Inuyasha observed. The frying pan was sizzling. Whatever she had to say, he hoped she'd say it fast. Or she could…

Inuyasha smiled. "Come in first. I'm cooking dinner, so you can tell me about it while I cook." A bemused half grin snuck onto his face as Kagome sputtered disagreeably in complaint when he grabbed her arm and pulled her in. "I'm a pretty good cook, so relax. I promise you won't hate my cooking. You're staying to eat, right?" An embarrassed 'no' escaped from slightly parted lips. "I'll take that as a 'yes', since you don't seem against it." Still beaming like an idiot, he turned around to tend to his pan. The oil was crackling and flying every which way. "Don't talk my ear off. What's the story?" he asked, trying to sound indifferent. Steam rose up in the air as he poured the frozen rice in the smoldering pan.

As though she'd made up her mind on the spot, Kagome blurted out with her face resembling a ripe tomato, "Pretend to be my boyfriend!" Bits of shell from the egg Inuyasha was cracking fell into the yellow mixture of yolk and salt. He forgot to clean out his ears this morning; that was probably it.

"'Cause there's just no way she would ask me to—"

"Could you? Please," Kagome added hastily as an afterthought. The ruddy rue of her cheeks didn't disappear. "My last hope for a date to take to the reunion was the guy I threw shoes at. There's no way in hell he's coming back, and I'd rather he not." Inuyasha stirred the rice in the pan absently, taking in the ridiculousness of this whole situation. He decided it was a dream. A dream in which he burned fried rice for the first time, and where a jab in the back felt a bit more painful that it ought to.

"Huh?"

"Say something. You're making me nervous." Not to mention humiliated, Kagome thought, her fingers toying endlessly with her hair. She examined the almost bare walls of Inuyasha's apartment, wanting nothing more than to get out of the closing-in space. Her eyes finally wandered to accidentally meet a pair utterly confused ones. "Um—" she smelled smoke "—the rice is burning. Tell me tomorrow what you think. Bye, see you later, good night!" Nearly forgetting to slip on her shoes, she dashed out of the suffocating enclosure with her mortification sprayed all over it, her breath held all the way.

Shutting her metal entrance to what was now heaven, she let out a huge breath of relief, horror, and anticipation. "Saved by the bell." Kagome squeezed her eyes closed tightly, muttering something of a prayer. When her eyes reopened, she was calm again. Her gray eyes were cool and fully restored of its original confidence and energy, certainty of victory stealing into a growing smile. "He definitely won't say no."

oOoOoOoOo

Pondering over a semi-burnt bowl of fried rice, Inuyasha sat at his dining table. With all his ego and confidence, he still couldn't believe that Kagome really meant it. He would, of course, accept her invitation whole-heartedly if it was, in fact, for real. He spooned a mouthful of rice into his mouth. Horrible.

"I must be dreaming right now," Inuyasha decided with a self-assured grin. "'Cause there's no way in heck that MY cooking would taste bad. Right, it must be a dream." And he continued munching his burnt rice in ignorant bliss.


End file.
